Slump goes on for Worcester Sharks

WORCESTER 
Facemasks are a goalie's best friend, with the Sharks a close second.

Opposition goalies, that is.

Worcester helped another one pad his stats on Friday night, losing to Martin Jones and the Manchester Monarchs, 3-1. The Sharks had a 29-20 edge in shots and even scored first, but after that goal — a breakaway by Jon Matsumoto at 1:30 of the first period — nothing went in.

“I thought we played a hell of a third period,” said Sharks coach Roy Sommer despite the fact that his team gave up two goals. “We just didn't get rewarded for it. It's not like we sat down or anything. You can't get upset with the effort, but we just don't have a lot of offense right now.”

Isn't that the truth.

Worcester is 0-3-1 in its last four games and has scored five goals on 101 shots in those games. Since finishing 2012 with a three-game winning streak, the Sharks are 2-5-1 and have been outscored, 26-14.

In the last four games, they are 0 for 15 on the power play, and there have been some brutal power plays. Worcester had one early in the second period on Friday night that hit absolute zero on the thermometer — Fahrenheit or Celsius.

Again, Worcester had its share of chances — more than a share, actually — but found it almost impossible to score. Rookie Yanni Gourde could have had four goals, it seemed, with the chances he created, but didn't even pick up an assist.

“We don't have the guys who can finish,” Sommer said.

Manchester finished three times. Linden Vey scored at 7:33 of the second period, Jordan Weal made it 2-1 at 7:27 of the third period, and rookie Tyler Toffoli got the final Monarchs' goal at 18:48 of the third.

It was Toffoli's 19th of the season. Imagine that — a player with 19 goals all by himself.

This was the first time the Sharks had played Manchester since Andy Andreoff blindsided Curt Gogol up there on New Year's Eve. It was apparent Andreoff would have to answer for that, and he did.

Gogol, whose neck is still sore, did not play.

At the opening faceoff, though, Jimmy Bonneau took on Andreoff, and the two had a very good battle, with Bonneau having the advantage.

Andreoff stood his ground well, though, and unlike the last time he fought here — with Sena Acolatse, when he headed to the penalty box whooping it up — this time Andreoff went through the door and gave Bonneau a gesture of respect.

Later, Bonneau fought with Justin Johnson, but neither old pro gave the other much of a chance to do any damage.

Matsumoto's goal got things going nicely for the Sharks. It was his 10th of the season. Daniil Tarasov, with points in three straight games, found Matsumoto zipping through the neutral zone and fed him perfectly. He skated right down the gut and snapped a 20-footer past Jones.

Teams that score first win about 70 percent of the time, but that has not been working for Worcester lately. The Sharks are 1-4-0 the last five times they've gotten the first goal.

Vey's goal from the left side was one that it looked like Harri Sateri should have had. Weal knocked in a rebound of a shot by Stefan Legein to make it 2-1, and Toffoli was all alone about 20 feet out in front of Sateri for the killer goal.

Having scored one goal in the game's first 58:48, the Sharks weren't about to get two in the final 1:12.